Spoof the quarterback

Before training camp, Anderson took a photo of the top of quarterback Matt Schaub's head. He used the picture to replicate Schaub's balding areas by shaving the areas of his head before training camp. After a week of camp, the hair is starting to grow in, but Anderson doesn't plan on letting the joke die.

“I'll update it before we play New Orleans, but for now, I have to make sure it'll grow back,” Anderson, 26, said. “If it doesn't, my mom will be really mad at me.”

Before he was drafted in the seventh round in 2006, Anderson played at Colorado State with Texans tight end Joel Dreessen and guard Mike Brisiel. Last season, Anderson and Brisiel moved into Dreessen's house, and the trio lived as they had in college.

“We used to joke around and call it the frat house because we were all football players living in the same house,” Anderson said. “So we had a lot of fun with that.”

Now that Dreessen is married, Anderson lives alone and claims to have grown up. But that growth is in maturity, not height. At 5-9 and 197 pounds, Anderson is the shortest wide receiver on the team, but with his style of play and his role as a slot receiver, Anderson has learned to use his size to his advantage.

“If I all of a sudden grew 5 inches, I probably wouldn't be as good at the things I've got,” Anderson said. “I just work with what God gave me, and it's going pretty good so far.”

Valuable role player

Anderson overcomes his lack of height by working to get open in the slot. Last season, he was a playmaker who regularly could be found to move the chains.

In the offseason, Anderson signed a three-year, $4.5 million offer sheet with the Denver Broncos, but the Texans thought enough of him to match the offer and keep him.

“David is a role player,” coach Gary Kubiak said. “He works in the slot for us in a lot of things we're doing. He's kind of a third-down specialist with a lot of routes that he runs.”

In 2008, he played in all 16 games and had career highs with 19 receptions and 241 yards, scoring two touchdowns.

His aggressive play might contradict his laid-back attitude off the field, but Kubiak said Anderson helps the team in many ways.